


Feather-soft moments with whirlwind toddlers

by Gabbeeh



Series: The WinterIron FemTony Wingfic AU [5]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Wings, Arc Reactor Issues, Chronic Illness, F/M, Family Fluff, Female Tony Stark, Minor Injuries, Parenthood, The spoon theory, Wingfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-10-12 04:53:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17460980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gabbeeh/pseuds/Gabbeeh
Summary: Toni gets hurt. Bucky and Aron are great at cuddling.





	Feather-soft moments with whirlwind toddlers

**Author's Note:**

> I was working on something longer, but I'm better at short stories, really. So I figured, better multiple one-shots then one single long plotless story I'll never finish.
> 
> Also, I'm aware that the name is usually spelled Aaron in English, but in Swedish it's Aron, I like it and I'm sticking with it.
> 
> Sorry for the long wait, life (university) got in the way...

Bath time was her moment.

 

Aron was a happy child, full of endless energy, running almost before he could walk and trying to fly not ten minutes later. Needless to say, Bucky was his favorite playmate. Toni had hoped that her son would be interested in technology, maybe even have inherited her genius, but at the age of four he still showed no interest in building circuit boards like she had. He was interested in cars, but only because they where fast. How their engines worked didn’t seem to matter. Aron was a completely normal child, or as normal as one could be with superheroes for parents (and aunt, and uncles). But while his mother constantly fought exhaustion, his energy levels seemed to be at a constant high.

 

So bath time. It was usually hectic and messy, water everywhere - but it was her moment, and she refused to let anyone disturb it by trying to help. Today Aron was playing with his toy submarine, telling her about his day with an enthusiasm she recognized as her own when she was talking science. She had spent big part of the day on the couch, watching him play, so it wasn’t as if she didn’t know what he’d been up to, but she listened intently anyway.

 

While bath time usually started with lots of splashing and laughing, it always ended with both mother and son tired and peaceful. They changed into pyjamas, moved into the common room, and Toni read a story to Aron. Usually some of the other avengers showed up to listen as well.

 

This night might have been a bit more hectic than usual, or maybe she just hadn’t slept so well, but Toni found herself quickly running out of spoons. She hefted Aron a little higher on her hip as she moved towards the common room. Aron was clinging to her, head resting on her shoulder and she smiled tiredly and pressed a kiss to his soft dark hair. She smiled up at Bucky and Bruce, who were waiting for story time on the couch.

 

Maybe it was because she was tired. Maybe a few more toys than usual had been left out. Maybe it was just bad luck. One moment she was tiredly moving towards the couch, looking forward to reading her son a bedtime story, the next she stepped on something and felt something in her foot _twisting_ , and suddenly she was falling. Instinctively she turned, wrapping her wings around her son and pulling him against her chest, as she hit the ground back first. A couple of loud bangs were heard as her hip and then the back of her scull connected with the marble floor.

 

”Toni!” Bucky and Bruce shouted simultaneously, almost being completely drowned out by the sounds of Aron crying. Toni brought a shaking hand up to stroke over his hair and feathers.”

 

”Shh, you’re okay, baby. You’re okay.”

 

She didn’t dare to try to get up, because adrenaline and shock may be masking the pain a bit, but still she _hurt_. In seconds Bucky and Bruce were crouched over her, almost looking afraid to touch.

 

”Buck, take Aron”, Bruce ordered as his fingers found the pulse point of her wrist. The weight of her child left her arms, but she could sense Bucky watching her worriedly while trying to sooth the sobbing toddler. Bruce’s hands moved to her neck, carefully watching for her reaction as he felt along the spine up to the back of her head.

 

”What hurts?”

 

”I think my hip”, she gasped. ”And my head.”

 

Bruce’s hands moved methodically down her sides, testing for local pain points along her ribs and down to her hips. An embarrassing whine left her throat as his fingers brushed against her right hip. Bruce frowned and carefully prodded the area.

 

”JARVIS, could you get the others here with a backbord?”

 

”Certainly, master Banner.” JARVIS sounded tense.

 

”I don’t need… Bruce, it’s not that…”

 

”I don’t think anything’s broken, Toni, but I would prefer to have an x-ray taken before you move too much.”

 

”It’s not that bad!” she protested, trying to sit up. She gasped in pain but stubbornly made it all the way up. ”I’m not being carried out on a backboard, Bruce. I refuse to scare him like that.” She nodded towards were Aron was still inconsolably sobbing in Bucky’s arms.

 

”Toni…”

 

”No! Give me my son!”

 

Bucky walked over, hesitantly placing the sobbing child in her arms. She immediately wrapped him up in her arms and feathers, whispering soothing words in his hair, while Bruce carefully probed the back of her skull. She couldn’t hold back a soft whine as his fingers hit the bump.

 

”You might have a concussion”, he murmured. ”We should get you to a bed at least.”

 

She tried to imagine getting to her feet despite the throbbing in her hip and the child in her arms. It felt like something she should be able to do, but it was like there was a wall in her mind. Every time she tried to command her body to move, the thought crashed against the wall, never making it to her limbs on the other side. She threw a helpless glance at Bucky, who instantly scooped her up into his arms, carrying both her and Aron to their bedroom. He had seen her run out of spoons enough times to recognize that look.

 

* * *

 

”Where’s mommy?”

 

Bucky turned and found that Aron had stopped playing, now staring at him with big sad eyes.

 

”Mommy’s resting, darling.”

 

”Because we fell?”

 

Bucky sighed and sat down on the couch. ”Yeah. She’s hurting a bit from falling.”

 

Aron sat quietly for a moment before grumpily adding: ”She never plays with me.”

 

Bucky closed his eyes for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain this to a four-year-old.

 

”Aron, do you remember when you had a fever a few weeks back?”

 

Aron nodded solemnly.

 

”And you were tired and achey and you didn’t have the energy to play.”

 

”And mom read _soo_ many stories to me!”

 

”Yeah, she did”, Bucky chuckled. ”But see, mommy’s sick, so she feels that tired almost all the time.”

 

”What’s wrong with her?”

 

”She was in an accident once, and her heart got hurt.”

 

Aron tilted his head to one side, thinking it over.

 

”We should go read her a story”, he decided.

 

* * *

 

Toni was both moping and hurting. She wanted to go down to her workshop or play with her son, but her hip was more black than blue and she had a monster of a headache. She’d tried to sleep it off, but despite being exhausted, she was restless. A soft knock on the door roused her from where she’d been glaring at the wall and pouting.

 

”Up for visitors?”

 

Toni couldn’t stop a smile from spreading over her face as Bucky and Aron sneaked into the darkened room.

 

”Always”, she murmured and scooted over to make room on the bed, hiding a pained grimace as she did.

 

”How’s the pain?”

 

Dammit. Why could she never hide anything from Bucky?

 

”Been better. Been a lot worse, too.”

 

”Dad’s gonna read a story”, Aron announced, a tad too loudly.

 

Toni forced herself not to show a reaction to the pain that spiked through her scull. Bucky gave her a sympathetic look as he settled down next to her on the bed, Aron curling up between them, accidentally batting them with his soft wings in the process. Bucky waited until he was settled before opening _the Neverending Story_ , the book Toni was currently reading from after bath time every night. Then, with a voice barely louder than a whisper, he began reading were she’d left off. Toni was still smiling as she drifted off to sleep, safe and warm, with baby-soft feathers tickling her face.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading and take care!


End file.
